A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method of testing or interviewing persons for a particular job or work position, and in particular, to a system and method for improving the likelihood the person will perform highly in the particular job or assisting the person to increase performance in the particular job, particularly jobs that require human interaction.
B. Problems in the Art
It is difficult to accurately predict how successful a person will be in a particular job or work position. Traditional hiring practices involve reviewing a potential employee's resume and personally interviewing the candidate. Studies have found this a remarkably ineffective, or at least unpredictable, method of hiring highly performing individuals for particular jobs. For example, a recent university study suggests that while 90% of employees are hired by personal interviews, only 14% of those hired turn out to be highly successful in the particular job.
It is believed that the reason for the low success rate is due in part to human nature. Interviews have conscious or unconscious biases that effect judgment or ability to predict a success employee. Or interviewers do not know the important matters about the job and/or the person in relation to the job to effectively interview the potential employee. See, for example, Plotkin, Harris, “Building a Winning Team”, Griffen Publishing, 544 Colorado Street, Glendale, Calif. (1997).
People have been using skills for selection of employees for years. However, they can not validate the process. They are biased and can not identify if they are measuring a skill, behavior or attitude, for example. If skills always led to performance, all CPA's, attorneys, medical doctor, nurses, engineers and artists would be successful. If intelligence always led to success, all valedictorians would be successful.
The behaviorist who has used behavior as a part of the selection process is biased and does not acknowledge the need to look at skills, intelligence, attitudes and beliefs.
The amount of people who understand and use attitudes for selection are biased and do not look at the other views either. Generally all the people who are involved in selection are biased and have trouble truly looking at a job or position the way they should be viewed. No one addresses the passions of individuals that can be met by certain jobs. Selection asks, “What does it take to be a key performer in a certain job?”. While ways exist to measure talent, there has not been a way to be able to find a place to drop the talent in, i.e., match a job to the talent.
Numerous and increasing attempts have been made to create a system for hiring or identifying which persons will be successful for particular jobs. A number of testing systems have been developed and are in use. Many focus on the technical competency of the potential employee. Many focus purely on the behavioral characteristics of the employee.
One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,880 (incorporated by reference herein). This system extracts information from the potential employee through a questionnaire. In the case of this patent, the questionnaire probes the behavioral and value characteristics of the individual. Those characteristics are compared to behavioral and value characteristics that are exhibited by persons successful in the particular job. A computer can be used to keep track of the questionnaire answers, their ratings, and their comparison to standards, and a printout can be created which allows the employer to evaluate the potential employee to see if they match up with successful models for the job. Alternatively, the system can be used to test existing employees to see if they fit a job, or to help them improve in a job.
While the patented system described previously has been found to be a much better predictor of employee success for a job, there are still needs in the art. The previously described system is focused on the people and their characteristics. More emphasis, or at least significant emphasis on what characteristics the job requires, may lead to even better predictions of employee success.
There are currently discussions of “competency” for jobs. See, for example, Parry, Scott B., “Just What is a Competency?” June 1998 issue of TRAINING, pp. 58–63; Klein, Andrews, L., “Validity and Reliability for Competency-based system: Reducing Litigation Risks”, Vol. 28, COMPENSATION & BENEFITS REVIEW, Jul. 17, 1996, pp. 31(7). While there is much discussion of competency, an effective way to measure the talent of a person and then find a job to maximize the talent of the person is not known.
Therefore, there is a real need in the art for an improvement regarding this question. It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a system and method that improves upon or solves the problems and deficiencies in the art.
The many attempts to shift the focus of inquiry from interviews and resumes to an evaluation of “competencies” of potential employees beg the question—how does one define “competencies” and which ones are relevant?
There is no agreement on these questions. Many attempts at using “competencies” mix hard skills, e.g. technical competencies, with what are sometimes called “soft skills”, e.g. more behavioral related. Others come up with generalized, “one size fits all” approaches.
Some companies hire consultants to tailor competency models to a particular company or job.
The problems with present attempts include inaccuracy, biases, cost, and ineffectiveness. A “one size fits all” approach does not take into account that different jobs require different competencies. It also does not allow for differences in company goals or philosophies.
A significant problem in many present competency based systems is bias of the creator of the system. For example, no matter how experienced or educated, a consultant or system developer has patent or latent biases. They invariably show up in the definitions, questions, and processing of such systems. Also, a consultant many times is affected by what the consultant perceives as the desired outcome of the client.
Specific hiring of consultants is costly. Some charge several thousand dollars a day. A customized system for a company can cost tens of thousands of dollars. And, again, biases are likely.
Also, the effectiveness of present systems is questionable. Most are based primarily on the real or perceived needs of the company, and not upon the needs of the position. Therefore, many good candidates for effective or even superior performance in a position are not identified.